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Monday, May 16, 2016

Writing Ideas - New Novel, part 766, Writing the Initial Scene

Announcement: Delay, my new novels can be seen on the internet, but the publisher
has delayed all their fiction output due to the economy. I'll keep you
informed. More information can be found at www.ancientlight.com. Check out my novels--I think you'll really enjoy
them.

Introduction: I wrote the novel Aksinya: Enchantment and the Daemon.
This was my 21st novel and through this blog, I gave you the entire novel in
installments that included commentary on the writing. In the commentary, in
addition to other general information on writing, I explained, how the novel
was constructed, the metaphors and symbols in it, the writing techniques and
tricks I used, and the way I built the scenes. You can look back through this
blog and read the entire novel beginning with http://www.pilotlion.blogspot.com/2010/10/new-novel-part-3-girl-and-demon.html.

I'm using this novel as an example
of how I produce, market, and eventually (we hope) get a novel published. I'll
keep you informed along the way.

Today's Blog: To see the steps in the publication process, visit my
writing website http://www.ldalford.com/ and select "production
schedule," you will be sent to http://www.sisteroflight.com/.

The four plus one basic rules I
employ when writing:

1. Don't confuse your readers.

2. Entertain your readers.

3. Ground your readers in the
writing.

4. Don't show (or tell) everything.

4a. Show what can be seen, heard, felt, smelled, and tasted on the stage
of the novel.

5. Immerse yourself in the world of your writing.

All novels have five discrete parts:

1. The initial scene (the
beginning)

2. The rising action

3. The climax

4. The falling action

5. The dénouement

The theme statement
of my 26th novel, working title, Shape, proposed
title, Essie: Enchantment and the Aos Si,
is this: Mrs. Lyons captures a shape-shifting girl in her pantry
and rehabilitates her.

I
just started writing my 27th novel, working title, Claire, potential
title Sorcha: Enchantment and the Curse.This might need some tweaking.The theme statement is: Claire (Sorcha) Davis
accepts Shiggy, a dangerous screw-up, into her Stela branch of the organization
and rehabilitates her.

Here is the cover proposal for Essie:
Enchantment and the Aos Si. Essie is my 26th novel.

Cover
Proposal

The most important scene in any
novel is the initial scene, but eventually, you have to move to the rising
action. I’m editing many of my novels using comments from my primary
reader.I finished my 27th
novel, working title Claire.I’m working on marketing materials.

I'm
an advocate of using the/a scene input/output method to drive the rising
action--in fact, to write any novel.

Scene development:

1. Scene input (easy)

2. Scene output (a little
harder)

3. Scene setting (basic stuff)

4. Creativity (creative
elements of the scene)

5. Tension (development of
creative elements to build excitement)

6. Release (climax of creative
elements)

How to begin a novel.Number one thought, we need an entertaining
idea.I usually encapsulate such an idea
with a theme statement.Here’s the theme
statement from Sorcha.

Claire (Sorcha) Davis accepts
Shiggy, a dangerous screw-up, into her Stela branch of the organization and
rehabilitates her.

Look at the outline for scene
development.The first step is the scene
input.The scene input is everything
that happened to the protagonist from the beginning of time to the now (initial
scene).This isn’t precisely true.The scene input is everything important and
related to the initial scene that provides the input to the initial scene.The most important point is this.As an author, you must recognize that the initial
scene must begin with action.The
writing for the initial scene literally bursts into the world and the
scene.The scene opens and everything
begins.This is likely the only scene in
the novel where nothing is fully known or understood by the readers in the
context of the characters and the action of the plot.

What I mean specifically about this
is that you must never begin an initial scene by telling us how we arrived at
the initial scene.This is why
prologues, introductions, and any kind of explanation prior to the initial scene
is right out.Don’t have them and don’t
write them.

When you begin to write the initial
scene begin in the middle of the action with the introduction of the
protagonist and protagonist’s helper or antagonist.In Sorcha,
the novel begins with Shiggy strapped to a table.She wakes and has no idea where she is or how
she got there.She reviews in her mind
some of the action that happened prior to her waking tied to a table.When she gets to the proper point, Shiggy
screams.Her screams bring Sorcha down
on her head—the meeting of the protagonist and the protagonist’s helper.The novel most precisely begins with a
tension bang that the reader begins to slowly come to grips with the
protagonist about.The knowledge of the
reader and the protagonist come at the same pace, until Sorcha makes her
appearance.The part from the first word
to the coming of Sorcha is the scene setting.I guess I’ll take the scene development out of order a little.

First the input to the scene—that is
the character and the life of the character prior to the initial scene.Then the scene setting.

About Me

L. D. Alford is a novelist whose writing explores with originality those cultures and societies we think we already know. His writing distinctively develops the connections between present events and history—he combines them with threads of reality that bring the past alive. L. D. Alford is familiar with technology and cultures—he is widely traveled and earned a B.S. in Chemistry from Pacific Lutheran University, an M.S. in Mechanical Engineering from Boston University, a Ph.D. in Aerospace Engineering from The University of Dayton, and is a graduate of Air War College, Air Command and Staff College, and the USAF Test Pilot School. L. D. Alford is an author who combines intimate scientific and cultural knowledge into fiction worlds that breathe reality. He is the author of three historical fiction novels: Centurion, Aegypt, and The Second Mission, and three science fiction novels: The End of Honor, The Fox’s Honor, and A Season of Honor.